Adonis Stevenson put an exclamation point on his win over Jesus Gonzales tonight in Montreal.
Jesus Gonzales went pretty far in hyping his fight with Adonis Stevenson this week, including bringing to light Stevenson's criminal past. In the end, it appears he served only to anger Stevenson, who came in throwing heavy leather tonight in Montreal, and absolutely blasted Gonzales in the first round with a monster left hand, knocking Gonzalez stiff and out of the fight.
For those who haven't seen it, the video is on YouTube already.
Stevenson (17-1, 14 KO) was throwing big shots from the get-go, and clearly fighting with a purpose. He caught Gonzales (27-2, 14 KO) a bit off-guard with his heavy artillery approach, perhaps, and ended things in short order, with a KO that is going to be hard to top for Knockout of the Year, even given that it's only mid-February.
The 34-year-old Stevenson is now firmly in line for an eventual shot at the IBF super middleweight title, currently held by Lucian Bute, as this win made him the IBF's No. 2 ranked fighter, behind only mandatory challenger Carl Froch.
It's a stunning knockout and a sealed arrival to the contending ranks of the division for Stevenson, who has certainly made official his full bounce-back from his 2010 TKO loss to Darnell Boone. What most expected to be a pretty good fight tonight, well-matched, turned into a pure icing.
Adonis Stevenson may not have a big window to make an impact in this division, but he can't be overlooked any longer. He put the division on notice tonight.
0 recs | 16 comments
That was a scary KO
tylerrcurtis - February 19, 2012 via mobile
Brutal KO. Good show of sportsmanship later from both men.
Matt Miller - February 19, 2012
Yeah, it was pretty heated stuff prior to the fight………………………..good to see after yesterday’s HW freak show of entertainment.
DPlainview - February 19, 2012
Holy sh!t, that was nasty! I think Gonzales’ career came to a screeching halt with that one blow.
jack_e_chan - February 19, 2012
Excellent example of the "floater" jab
to set up the big left.
manosdepiedra - February 19, 2012
Floater jab?
gzl5000 - February 19, 2012
Dunno if people use a different term...
but that’s what I call a jab that you just float in front of the other guy’s face with no intention to connect but rather like a bit of chaff to hide the missile coming in right behind.
Adonis was already loading up on the left when he started the jab. It’s a bit different from a “measurement” jab. Off the top of my head, I recall Kelly Pavlik using it a lot to set up the big right. I believe Big George also used it when he KO’d Moorer.
manosdepiedra - February 19, 2012
Basically as a diversion — Randall Bailey loves using it to blind the opponent for the right hand coming in. Great example would be his KO of Frankie Figueroa. Teddy Atlas talks about that jab in particular: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tCFhWJg1Z8
Scott Christ - February 19, 2012
slo-mo starts around 3:00, Teddy explains it throughout. Ended Figuoera’s career.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tCFhWJg1Z8
BoxAnne - February 19, 2012
Beauty
Thanks for the Bailey-Figueroa link guys—perfect illustration of one of my favourite tactics in the Sweet Science, especially for fighters with big one-punch power. With Manny Steward in Stevenson’s corner, I’m now wondering why Tommy Hearns never fully capitalized on it.
manosdepiedra - February 19, 2012
Wow. That it would come from a left was probably a foregone conclusion, but Gonzalez literally got “stiffed.”
DrRck - February 19, 2012
Everyone at 168 should be afraid. Stevenson can be outboxed but one simple punch can win the fight.
MontrealBoxing - February 19, 2012
Bute-Stevenson in Montreal is beginning to look very interesting, I may just have to attend that one.
MatM - February 19, 2012
I’d go to that for sure.
Gonzales with his arms out looked like he was Superman on his back. Adonis ‘Superman’ Stevenson for K.O of the year. Hope he gets to make a few big (or decent) money fights. It’d be great to see two of ’Canada’s’ best fighters go at, despite neither being Canadian.
RyanSexton - February 19, 2012
Damn!!
What a beaut of a KO… Monster left!!
Stevosaurus Rex - February 20, 2012
Great KO, bad person [if reports are to believed]
Hi guys. Long time reader, first time poster.
I will agree that the KO was definitely the KO of the month.
However, upon reading about the criminals charges brought to light by his opponent, I have a hard time getting hyped about Adonis Stevenson [assuming what was said about him is true].
cheetahpants - February 22, 2012
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Bad Left Hook to post a comment.